Sack-cleaning machine



1. A. WAGNER.

SACK CLEANING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN Patented June 28, 1921.

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- YQZA' e m (0 A TTOR NE Y J. A. WAGNER.

SACK CLEANING MACHINE. APPLICATIQN FILED JAN. 2. 1920.

1,382,944, Patented June 2 ,1921.

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PATENT JAMES A. WAGNER, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

SACK-CLEANING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 28, 1921.

Application filed January 2, 1920. Serial No. 348,821.

T all m ham it viz-a t] COHOGTH.

Be it known that 1, JAMES A. VVAoNnR, a citizen of the United Stateresiding at the city and the county of iilan Francisco and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in SaclcCleaning Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a sack cleaning machine.

It is the principal object of the present invention to provide a machine by means of which fabric sacks may be thoroughly cleaned after use, thereby insuring that the sacks may be readily placed in condition for reuse, and thus conserving a supply of sacks.

The present invention contemplates the use of pneumatic means adapted to force a flow of air through the fabric of a sack, and thereby rid it of dust and other foreign matter, said machine being further equipped with automatic sack-turning means and brush members adapted to scour the interior of the sack when turned. The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a View in side elevation, disclosing the completely assembled sack-cleaning machine.

Fig. is an enlarged fragmentary view in vertical section through the pneumatic supply pipe.

Fig. 3 is a view in plan showing the complete machine.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view in side elevation illustrating the trip mechanism of the turning device.

Referring to the drawings, indicates a main frame here shown as formed with corner posts 11, adapted to support upper and lower side beams 12 and cross beams 13. These two sets of beams combine to form a rectangular frame as shown in Fig. 3. The lower side beams are further held together by cross rails M which provide a suitable sub frame structure for the driving mechanism of the present invention.

Mounted upon this sub frame structure is a driving motor 15 operating an air compressor 16. The motor is fitted with a wide drive pulley 17 adapted to receive belts 18 and 19. The belt 18 leads to a pulley 20 upon the air compressor 16, while the belt 19 leads around a pulley 21 carried on a counter shaft 22 at the forward end of the machine. This counter shaft is furthermore equipped w th pulley 23 by which a brushmg mechamsm is operated, said mechanism to be hereinafter described.

The opposite end of the motor shaft carries a beveled gear 24. A beveled pinion 25 1s in constant mesh with this gear and 1s C2t1l18l upon a longitudinally extending drive shaft 26. This drive shaft extends downwardly and reariwirdlv to be housed within bearings 27 upon the sub frame structure of the machine. interposed between these hearings and fixed to the shaft 26 is a worm gear 28. This gear is in constant mesh with a worm wheel 29 by which a pitma-n rod 30 is driven.

The pitman rod is connected with the worm wheel by means of wrist pin 30, and is secured at its opposite end to a lever 32 by a. pivot pin 33. The lever 32 as shown in Fig. 1 is mounted upon a pivot shaft carried by the sub frame of the machine and is adapted to oscillate through a vertical plane, the extreme positions of which move ment are indicated by solid and dotted lines in Fig. 1. The upper end of the lever 32 is secured to a connecting rod by a pin 36. The rear end of this connecting rod is pivoted to a cross head 37 by means. of a pin 38. This cross head is slidable along a guideway 39 and may thus have horizontal, reciprocal movement longitudinally of the frame. A frame arm l0 extends horizontally from the cross head 87 and in a plane therewith. The outer end of the frame arm terminates substantially along the longitudinal center of the main frame and is there formed with a longitudinally extending portion 41 carrying a bearing 32 at its outer and forward ends. A shaft 43 is slidably mounted through said bearing and is conne: -ted by a pin 44 at its forward end to toggle levers 45 and 46. These levers at their free ends are connected to spreading arms l7 and 48 by means of pins 49. The spreading arms are supported from the bearing 42 upon pivot pins 50 thus permitting the arms to swing horizontally toward and from each other as a change in relation of the shaft to the bearing 42 is brought about, and the toggle joint mechanism affected. 7

. Relative'movement is permitted between the shaft 43 and the frame 40 by the provision of a guide slot 51 into which an arm 52 of an extension 53 of the shaft projects. The portion 53 of the shaft 13 extends beneath the cross head to form a finger 54: more clearly shown in 1 and 4. This finger is adapted to encounter a stop block 55 mounted upon one of the side rails 12 of the frame. The stop block is horizontally movable and is normally locked by means of acatch finger 56. An extension shaft 57 is secured to the side of the stop block and passes through a guide bearing 58. Secured to the end of the extension shaft is a tension spring 59 leading rearwardly along the frame and fixed thereto.'- The release of the block 55 from the catc 56 is brought about by the depression of a pad 60, mounted upon a vertically reciprocating shaft 61 which is shown in Fig. 4 as carried within'a bearing 62, upon the side rail of the frame. This shaft is fitted with a lug 63 intended to depress the catch 56 and hold it in its depressed position-while the cross head 37 moves along its path of travel. An expansion spring 611"- is mounted beneath the shaft 61 to normally hold the pad in its uppermost position. The downward movement of the pad 60 is brought about by its engagement with pins 65 which project horizontally from the side face of the cross head 37. V

Reference being had to F 1, it will be seen that the pin 65 stands in its initial position to hold an air control lever 66. This lever is mounted upon a pivot 67 and is fitted with a connecting rod 68 which extends forwardly to one leg of a bell crank 69. This bell crank is carried upon a pivot shaft 70 at the frontof the mainframe. The horizontal leg of the bell crank issprovided with a connected rod 71 which extends downwardly to connect with a vertical sleeve 72. This sleeve is supported at its opposite sides by brackets 73 and may have reciprocal, vertical movement as permitted by helical compression springs 7+1 and T5. sleeve telescopes over a vertical pipe 76 which is'in communication with an air supply pipe 77 leading to the compressor, 16. An outlet extension 7 8 is also pro-vided as a continuation ofthe supply pipe 77.

The supply of air to the sleeve 72 from therpipe 77 is permitted by moving a valve 79 to a vertical position over the extension 78 as indicated in Fig. 2. This is done by means of a link 80 pivoted at its upper end to the sleeve 72, and by its lower end to a lever 82, secured to swing the valve member 79. It will thus be evident that when the sleeve 72 is elevated by the connecting rod Y1 simultaneous operation will establishcommunication between the sleeve and the supply pipe 70.

The upper end of the sleeve. 72 is formed of gear quadrants 87.

Tl l o with a horizontally turned nozzle This neck also flares outwardly from its cente as more clearly shown in Fig. 3 and thus provides an outlet opening substantially agreeing with the mouth opening of a sack 83, which sack is indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 3 as mounted upon horizontally swinging horns s4. and 85. These horns are pivoted upon vertical shafts S6 at the opposite sides of the nozzle member 82.

The horns are simultaneously swung toward and away from each other by means These quadrants are operated by a connecting rod 88 extending the length of the machine to a lever 89 near the rear end thereof. This lever is mounted upon the pivot shaft 67 and is fixed thereto to move in unison with'the air control lever 66. V

The rotation of shaft 6? is normally prevented by means of a lock finger 90 which extends into a recess 91 formed in the face pin 65 and will be encountered by this pin directly'before the trip pad 60 is encountered.

I An end frame 97 extends from the forward end of the main frame and carries cylindrical brushes 98 and 99 as well as a pair of rubber feed rollers 101 and 10 1. The cylindrical brushes are fitted with trunni 102 rotatably mounted within bearings 103, and the brushes thus supported withthcir longitudinal axes parallel and in vertical alinement. The trunnions of the feed roller 104 are rotatably mounted within a fixed bearing 105, while the trunnion 106 of the upper feed roller 101 is mounted within a sliding); bearing 10? carried in the frame 1.08, and adjusted by means of a screw 109.

The. drive of the brushes and rolls is produced by rotation of pulley 23 as it drives a belt 100. This belt is led around. a driven pulley 111 secured upon an extending trunnion of brush 99. Gears 112 of equal diameter are fixed upon these extending trun nions 102 of the brushes 98 and and are in constant mesh so that the two brushes will roll toward each other and thus act upon a sack passing therebetween. The rotation of these brushes is contra-wise to the direction of movement of the sack. thus insuring that a positive scouring action will be'bronght about. The feed. rollers are fit ted with complementary gears iiiwh rh are in constant mesh and one of which is in mesh with a driving gear 11% carried 11 of the brush trunnions. This drivh a gear is of reduced diameter and will thus decrease the revolutions per minute of the feed rollers as compared with the revolutions per minute of the brushes, at the same time in- Silllng that the feed rollers will rotate in directions; opposite to the directions of re tation of the brushes.

In operation of the present invention, a sack 83 is mounted over the horns 84 and (5 with its opened mouth facing the air nozzle 82. The motor is then started and this in turn will drive the worm gear 29 through the gear train previously described, at the same time driving the air compressor 16 and the counter shaft 22. The operation of the air compressor will deliver air through the pipe 77 to the vertical extension 76, it being; understood that at this period in the operation, the valve 79 is standing vertically to allow a passage of air from the inlet 7 7 to the vertical pipe 76 and the sleeve 72. The air will thus be conducted to the nozzle 82 and will be blown horizontally into the mouth of the shaft. This will act to in flate the sack, at the same time blowing the dust and dirt therefrom as the air is forced through the fabric thereof. When the worm wheel 29 rotates it will swing the lever 32 in the direction of the arrow a-'- as indicated in Fig. 1. This will draw forwardly upon the connecting rod 35 and will act to move the cross head 37 in the direction of the arrow as indicated in Fig. 1. As the cross head moves forwardly, it will carry the spreading arms 47 and 48 and the shaft 43. These arms will be in their closed positions and will remain so until the finger 54., carried by the extension 53 of the shaft 43 will encounter the block 55 as indicated in Fig. 4. l V hen the finger 54 strikes this bloclr the shaft 43 will, of course, be held against movement while the cross head and the frame 41 will continue to move forwardly. This will result in operating the tor -ole links 45 and 46 to spread the arms 47 and 48. It will be noted that by the time the finger 54 reaches the block 55, the forward ends of the arms 47 and 48 will have depressed the end of the inflated sack, and that when the arms are spread they will tend to straighten out this portion and carry it between the horns 84 V and 65. This will constitute a sack-turning action. The block will re main immovable until trip pin 65 carried upon the cross head 37 strikes the pad 60,, at which time the pad will move downwardly and the lug 63 upon its shank 61 will depress the catch 56 to allow the block to move with the advancing finger This block will be positively moved by engagement of extension 52 with the rear end of slot 51. This movement will be against the resistance of spring 59, said spring being de signed to expand and accommodate the fun ther movement of the arms 47 and 48 as they turn the sack and carry its closed end through the brushing rollers and into engagement with the feed rollers.

While this turning action is taking place the air delivering to the sack has been interrupted as the trip pin 65 encountered the curved end of lever 95 which shown in Fig. 4. This lever will thus swing forwardly in the direction of the arrow cand will draw upon the rod 94 to operate lever 93 and release the cai'zrh member 90 from the lock groove in the quadrant 92 of lever 66. The spring tension exerted by the springs 74 and 75 will thus tend to force the air delivery sleeve 72 downwardly to carry the nozzle 82 out of the horizontal path of travel out of the sack and at the same time acting to swing the valve member 79 to a closing position over the pipe 76 and to thus permit the air from the compressor to blow out through the pipe 77 and the exhaust extension 78.

Simultaneous with this operation the shaft 67 will swing a lever 89 and this lever will act to move rod 86 in the direction of the arrow -d as indicated in Fig. 3, thus swinging the gear quadrants 87 in a similar direction and forcing the horns 84 and 85 inwardly toward each other to release the turning sack. forwardly by the spreading arms 47 and 48 until the pass between the scouring brushes 98 anl 99. These brushes are retating; against the path of travel of the sack which has now been inverted. The end seam of the sack will then be engaged by the feed rollers and the sack thus continued along its original path of travel, while the movement is being; resisted by the oppositely moving scouring brushes. 7

When the spreading arms 47 and 48 have reached the extreme end of their stroke adjacent the feed rollers, they will be drawn rearwardlv on the reverse stroke of the pit man rod 30. This will move the cross head to its original position and cause it to pass over the trip pad 60. The pad will thus be depressed and will permit the block to return to its original position as held by the catch 56. Further movement of the cross head will cause the pin to engage the lever and swinethe lock linger 9O rearwardly so that it will register with the recess 91 in the quadrant of lever 66 when the pin 65 strikes the upper end of this lever and swings it to its extreme position.

the pin 65 swings the lever 66 to its extreme position, the shaft 67 will be again rotated and will indirectly act to move the horns 84 and 85 to their outermost positions while opening the valve 79. It is intended that during this return stroke another sack shall be placed over the horns so that when the end of the turn stroke of the cross head has been reached the horns will swing out- The sack will then be carried I wardly to stretch the sack and the'nozzle 82 therefore moving upwardly to deliver a blast of air to the sack, after which the prevlously described cycle of operation will again be performed.

It will thus be seen that the sack cleaning machine here disclosed will operate continuously and automatically to clean the fabric of a sack by pneumatic means as well as by turning the sack and scouring its interior surface, said mechanism being positive in its operation and not liable to require repair.

While I show the preferred form of my invention as now known to me, it will be understood that various changes in the combination, construction, and arrangement of parts may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A sack cleaning machine, comprising means for receiving a sack, means for blowing air through the'fabric of the sack for cleaning the same, automatically operating turning means, and means for scouring the inner surfaces of the sack.

2. A sack cleaning machine comprising means over which a sack may be placed and by which the mouth of the sack may be held 7 open, means for blowing air into the open mouth of the sack and through the fabric of the sack, automatically operating means for turning the sack and brush members adapted to act upon the turned sack.

3. A sack cleaning machine comprising a main frame, a pair of horns thereon, and over which a sack may be stretched, a pair of combined feed and spreading arms adapted to move against the end of the sack and act to turn the same, automatic means for spreading the arms within the sack during said movement, a pneumatic nozzle adapted to deliver air into the open mouth of the sack and through the fabric thereof, automatic means for moving said nozzle out of the path of travel of the sack while turning and simultaneously discontinuing the delivery of air thereto, and a pair of securing brushes between which the turned sack is carried by said spreading arms and by which the inner surface of the sack is scoured.

4. A sack cleaning machine comprising means over which a sack may be placed and by which the mouth of the sack may be held open, means for blowing air into the open mouth of the sack and through the fabric thereof, automatic operating means for turning the sack, brush members adapted to act upon the turned sack and means for drawing the sack from the brush members when said sack has been brushed.

5. A sack cleaning machine comprlslng means over which a sack may be placed and by which the mouth of the sack may be held open, means for blowing air into the open mouth of the sack and through the fabric thereof, automatic operating means for turning the sack, brush members adapted to act upon the turned sack, and means for discontinuing the blowing of air when the sack has been turned.

6. A sack cleaning machine comprising a main frame, a pair of horns thereon over which a sack may be stretched, a reciprocating mechanism mounted on said frame and carrying a pair of sack turning arms, air blast means for in lating the sack, means for advancing the sack turning arms toward the bottom of the sack, means for distending the arms at a predetermined point after engagement with the bottom of the sack, and automatic means for moving'the horns toward one another to permit the sack to be completel turned.

7. sack cleaning machine comprising a main frame, a pair of horns thereon over which a sack may be stretched, a reciprocating mechanism mounted on said frame and carrying a pair 'of sack turning arms, air blast means for inflating the sack, means for advancing the sack turning arms toward the bottom of the sack, means for distending the arms at a predetermined point after engagement ith the bottom of the sack, automatic means for moving the horns toward one another to permit the sack to be completely turned, and means for discontinuing the air blast at the completion of the sack turning movement.

8. A sack cleaning machine comprising a main frame, a pair of horns thereon over which a sack may be stretched, a reciprocating mechanism mounted on said frame and carrying a pair of sack turning arms, air blast means for inflating the sack, means for advancing the sack turning arms toward the bottom of thesack, means for distending the arms at a predetermined point after engage ment with thebottom of the sack, automatic means for moving the horns toward one another to permit the sack to be completely turned, means for discontinuing the air blast at the completion of the sack turning movement, and a pair of revolving brush rollers adapted to receive between them the turning arms and sack after the turning of the sack is completed.

9. A sack cleaning machine comprising a main frame, a pair of horns thereon over which a sack may be stretched, a reciprocate ing mechanism mounted on said frame and carrying a pair of sack turning arms, air blast means for inflating the sack, means for advancing the sack turning arms toward the bottom of the sack, means for distending the arms at a predetermined point after engagement with the bottom of the sack, automatic means for moving the horns toward one another topermit the sack to be completelysaid rollers in a reversed direction to the movement of the sack turning arms.

10. A sack cleaning machine comprising a main frame, a pair of horns thereon over which a sack may be stretched, a reciprocating mechanism mounted on said frame and carrying a pair of sack turning arms, air blast means for'lnflatmg the sack, means for advancing the sack turning arms toward the bottom of the sack, means for distending the arms at a predetermined point after engagement with the bottom of the sack, automatic means for moving the horns toward one another to permit the sack to be completely turned, means for discontinuingthe air blast at the completion of the sack turning movement, a pair of revolving brush rollers adapted toreceive between them the turningarms and sack after the turning of the sack is completed, and a pair of revolving feed rollers adapted to draw the sack from the brush rollers. a

11. A sack cleaning machinecomprising a 'main frame, a pair of horns thereon over which a sack may be stretched, a rec1procatmg mechanism mounted on said frame and J carrying a pair of sack turning arms, air

blast means for inflating the sack, means for advancing the sack turning arms toward the bottom ofthe sack, means for distending the arms at a predetermined point after engagement with the bottom of the sack, automatic means for moving the horns toward one an other to permit the sack "to be completely turned, means for discontinuing the air blast at the completion of the sack turning movement, a pair of revolving brush rollers adapted to receive between them the turning arms and sack after the turning of the sack is completed, a pair of revolving feed rollers adapted to draw the sack from the brush rollers, and gearing means to drive the feed rollers at a less speed than the brush rollers.

12. A sack cleaning machine comprising a main frame, a pair of horns thereon over which a sack may be stretched, a reciprocating mechanism mounted on said frame and carrying a pair of sack turning arms, air blast means for inflating thesack, means for advancin the sack turning arms toward the bottom of the sack, means for distending the arms at a predetermined point after engagement with the bottom of the sack, and means actuated by the forward movement of said reciprocating mechanism for simultaneously moving the horns toward one another to permit the sack to be completely turned and to discontinue the air blast.

13. A sack cleaning machine comprising a main frame, a pair of horns thereon over which a sack may be stretched, a reciprocating mechanism'mounted on said frame and carrying a pair of sack turning arms, air blast means for inflating the sack, means for advancing the sack turning arms toward the.

bottom of the sacln'means for distending the arms at a predetermined point after engagement-with the bottom of the sack, and means actuated vbyzthe forward movement of the reciprocating mechanism for moving the horns toward each other to permit. the complete turning ofthe sack.

1 f, Ina sack cleaning apparatus a supporting frame, a pair of opposed horns, mechanism by which said hornsmay be introduccd and expanded to distend the sack, an air blast apparatus, a conductor therefrom, a mouth-pieceand means by which it may be introduced into the mouth of the sack and removed therefrom, and a controlling valve by which the air blast may be opened when the mouth-piece has been introduced to blow airthrough the interstices of the sack, and closed thereafter, mechanism actuated. after the removal of the 'nzouth-piece by which the sackmay be turned inside out and removed from the horn, and revolving brushes between which the turned sack may be passed to cleanse its interior. v

15.'In a sack cleaning machine a main frame, a reciprocating member slidably mounted thereon and carrying'a pair of distendable arms, on which a sack may be carried when distended, means for reciprocating said member, and a pair of brush rollers disposed so that the sack carried by the distendable arms is brought between the roller at the extreme forward stroke of the reciprocating member.

16. In a sack cleaning machine a main frame, a reciprocating member slidably mounted thereon and carrying a pair of distendablc arms, on which a sack may be carried when distended, means for reciprocating said member, a pair of brush rollers disposed so that the sack carried by the distendable arms is brought between the roller at the extreme forward stroke of the reciprocating member, and gear means for driving the brush rollers in a direction opposite to the forward reciprocal movement of the distendable arms.

17. In a sack cleaning machine a main brush rollers in a direction opposite to the forward reciprocal movement of the distendable arms, and a pair of feed rollers disposed to draw the sack from the brush rollers.

18. In a sack cleaning machine a main frame, a reciprocating member slidably mounted thereon and carrying a pair of distendable arms, on which sack may be carried when distended, means for reciprocating said member, a pair of brush, rollers disposed so that the sack carried by the distendable arms is brought between the roller at the extreme forward stroke of the reciprocating member, gear means for driving the brush rollers in a direction opposite to the forward reciprocal movement of the distendable arms, a'pair of feed rollers disposed to draw the sack from the brush rollers, and reduction gears for driving the feed rollers at a lower speed than the brush roller.

19. In a sack cleaning machine a main frame, a reciprocating member slidably mounted thereon and carrying a pair of distendable arms, means for reciprocating said member, a pair of distendable horns mounted on one end of the frame over which a sack may be stretched, an air blast for in flating said sack, means actuated by the forward movement of the reciprocal member for distending the arms carried thereby at a predetermined period after the arms have engaged the bottom of the inflated sack, and means actuated by the same movement of the reciprocating member for moving its horns toward each other to hermit the complete turning of the sack.

20.'In a sack cleaning machine a main frame, a reciprocating member slidably mounted thereon and carryinga pair of dis tendable arms, means for reciprocating said for distending the arms carried thereby at a predetermined period after the arms have engaged the bottom of the inflated sack,

means actuated by the same movement of the reciprocating member for moving its horns toward each other to permit the complete turning of the sack, and means actuated by the return or backward movement of the reciprocating member for distending the horns and bringing the sack turning arms together. 7

21. In a sack cleaning machine a main frame, a reciprocating member slidably mounted thereon and carrying a pair of distendable arms, means for reciprocating said member, a pair of distendable horns mounted on one end of the frame over which a sack may be stretched, an air blast for inflating said sack, means actuated by the forward movement of the reciprocal member for disteuding the arms carried thereby at a predetermined period after the arms have engaged the bottom of the inflated sack, and means actuated by the same movement of the reciprocating member for simultaneously bringing the horns together so that the sack may be completely turned and to discontinue the air blast. V

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

JAMES A. l/VAGNER.

Witnesses:

W. W. HEALEY, M. E. EWING. 

